Home prices dropped from September to October in 19 of the 20 cities where it tracks the real estate markets, according to the widely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report.
According to a statement from David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices:
"Atlanta and the Midwest are regions that really stand out in terms of recent relative weakness. Atlanta was down 5.0 percent over the month, after having fallen by 5.9 percent in September. It also has the weakest annual return, down 11.7 percent. Chicago, Cleveland Detroit and Minneapolis all posted monthly declines of 1.0 percent or more in October."
Reuters says the news "underscored the challenges facing the housing market."
According to the report, prices were down 3.4 percent from a year earlier across the 20 cities where S&P/Case-Shiller tracks them. Among the reasons prices remain weak: the nation's still working down a large backlog of homes that went into foreclosure after the housing bubble burst in 2007 and 2008.
Phoenix was the only city where prices didn't fall in October from September — they were up 0.3 percent before "seasonal adjustment." But prices are still down 5.1 percent from a year earlier in Phoenix.
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